Matrix Decomposition

You are given a square matrix $M$ with $N$ rows (numbered $1$ through $N$) and $N$ columns (numbered $1$ through $N$). Initially, all the elements of this matrix are equal to $A$. The matrix is broken down in $N$ steps (numbered $1$ through $N$); note that during this process, some elements of the matrix are simply marked as *removed*, but all elements are still indexed in the same way as in the o